cannabisnews.com: Nevadans Asked to Blaze Trail for Legalization 





Nevadans Asked to Blaze Trail for Legalization 
Posted by CN Staff on September 09, 2002 at 07:44:56 PT
By Dan Harrie, The Salt Lake Tribune
Source: Salt Lake Tribune
Loose slots and looser drug laws. That could be the new Nevada tourism pitch if voters approve a November ballot measure to legalize marijuana. With prostitution and gambling already sanctioned by the state, some argue that lawful dope smoking is the next logical step in making this the nation's ''getaway'' capital. Utah voters, of course, have no say in the laws of their more unbuttoned neighbor.
But a change in Nevada drug enforcement could provide some Salt Lake Valley and St. George residents one more enticement to make weekend forays to Las Vegas, or even quick trips to Wendover or Mesquite.   To tourists with a buzz on, those cheap buffets might seem downright scrumptious.   But even Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, who previously has suggested support for decriminalizing marijuana, is quick to predict such a change would never be allowed to cross the Utah state line.   "It'll never happen here," Anderson says.   Although he expresses sympathy for Nevada's proposal -- "I actually am in favor of experimenting with all sorts of different solutions" -- he says Utah needs to take a different path, expanding drug-prevention and anti-abuse programs.   Regardless of Utahns' sober skepticism, marijuana legalization has found a sizable reservoir of support among Nevada's conservative but independent-minded voters. Some 110,000 residents signed petitions to qualify for ballot status in a record 40 days. The state's largest newspaper, The Las Vegas Review-Journal, has endorsed the measure, and polls have shown it with about an even chance of passage.   But it would be premature for anyone to begin lighting up doobies in celebration just yet. Because the initiative is a proposed amendment to the state constitution, it must win voter approval in back-to-back general elections. Should it pass Nov. 5, it will automatically come back around for a revote in two years.   If ultimately approved, the amendment would make Nevada the first state in the nation to make possession and private use of marijuana legal for all adults. Up to 3 ounces of cannabis would be allowed for people 21 and older.   Driving stoned or smoking pot in public would still be illegal, as would be transporting marijuana into or out of the state. Advertising of weed would be banned, and the Legislature would be required to establish a system for production and distribution, either through state stores, like Utah's liquor agencies, or licensed private outlets.   The result would be a boon for individual rights and common sense, or a recipe for increased crime and addiction, depending on who is doing the predicting.   Driving the pro-pot campaign is a group calling itself Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement. The name tells a lot about the message advocates are trying to get across -- that legalizing limited amounts of marijuana would actually improve drug and crime enforcement.   Initiative leader Billy Rogers says there are comparisons with marijuana laws and the failed policy of alcohol prohibition.   "In a regulated marketplace, marijuana will be less available to children, and underage use will decrease," Rogers says. "Drug dealers don't ask for ID."   Until a couple of years ago, when it legalized medicinal marijuana and toned down penalties for possession of small amounts, Nevada had the toughest pot laws in the nation. Possession of any amount was a felony.   "In one year, law enforcement officers in Nevada arrested about 4,000 people for possession," Rogers says. He calculates that that translated to about 10,000 hours of police man-hours that could have been better spent on serious crimes such as kidnapping, murder and rape.   The argument seemed unassailable when a group representing nine police unions came out in support of the measure last month. But just days later the Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs retracted its endorsement and ousted its president.   Most politicians are staying out of the fray, too, including popular Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn.   Guinn appears poised to glide into his second term. But he has taken no position on the marijuana initiative because he wants to see what voters think, said spokesman Greg Bortolin.   The behemoth of Nevada politics also has been pointedly mute so far. Despite competing claims by initiative forces that the multibillion-dollar gambling industry would be helped or hurt by the legal marijuana, casinos have stayed on the sidelines.   "It's not an issue that has our focus," says a spokeswoman at the Nevada Resort Association. "We just haven't gotten involved."   Washoe County District Attorney Dick Gammick has no such qualms.   "We're playing with a dangerous drug here. It's 10 times more powerful than it was a few years ago," Gammick says. "They throw out that marijuana is not addictive. That's bull----."   The tough-talking cop-turned-prosecutor has emerged as one of the few elected officials speaking out publicly against the initiative.   Where are all his political colleagues?   "You don't have to be an Einstein to see where they're coming from," says Gammick, whose bid for re-election is unopposed. "They're afraid of the polls."   An Elko native, Gammick says he resents Nevada being targeted as the laboratory rat for a national group out to reform U.S. drug policy through a state-by-state campaign.   "I am highly offended we've got all these outside people coming here to legalize drugs," Gammick says. "They just want to smoke pot."   Rogers insists he is not a smoker, but estimates up to 150,000 Nevadans are and deserve to be left alone so long as they are responsible.   "Our initiative protects people in the privacy of their own homes, and that's what we're going to be talking about," Rogers says. "We have zero tolerance for public use and zero tolerance for use by minors."   He cites a Zogby poll earlier this year indicating that 61 percent of Americans believe people should not be arrested for possessing small amounts of marijuana.   "The fact is, 80 million Americans have tried marijuana at one time in their lives and they didn't go onto harder drugs and they aren't homeless."   Many people see "no difference between somebody who gets off work and unwinds by going home and having a beer and somebody who unwinds by going home and having a marijuana cigarette."   Although he disputes that Nevada is the subject of a "grand experiment," Rogers acknowledges that if marijuana is legalized here, he would hope to see similar reforms in other states.   The nonprofit organization behind the Nevada initiative is the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, whose stated goal is to "bring an end to our nation's war on marijuana users."   Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement has been accurately described as a subsidiary of the national group. That is borne out by looking at its books.   The Marijuana Policy Project has provided all but $275 of the $575,275 raised so far for the Nevada campaign. Proponents have spent most of the cash already, doling out $387,000 to petition passers.   Rogers, who is officially on leave from his job as the national organization's director of state policies, won't say how much more money is available from the same source. A news release from the group last January said its budget for 2002 was more than $1 million, thanks to contributions from some major donors.   The largest of those, according to Rogers, is Peter Lewis, multimillionaire chief executive officer of the Progressive Corp., of Ohio.   Meanwhile, the opposition has not even formed a political action committee, let alone raised money to counter the initiative.   Eric Herzik, political scientist at the University of Nevada, Reno, predicts the marijuana ballot measure will fail.   "I don't know if Nevada is willing to go that far," Herzik says. He estimates that one-third of the voters are opposed because they think "marijuana turns the mind to powder," and another third are undecided and will come down on the side of caution.   But Herzik says if the campaign turns into an effective media blitz by proponents against dead air by the opposition, "that could pump up" the initiative enough to pass.  Tribune reporter Heather May contributed to this story. Complete Title: Nevadans Asked to Blaze Trail for Legalization of Pot News Brief: Utah Led Early Pot Ban Monday, September 9, 2002   Utah was the first state to ban marijuana, in 1915.   The LDS Church, said to be worried about marijuana use among members returning from Mexican exile for their polygamous beliefs, decreed in late summer of 1915 that it was against church doctrine. And with virtually no publicity, the Utah Legislature wrote the church's ban into state criminal law a few months later, forbidding its sale or possession by adding the plant to the state's omnibus laws on banned narcotics and pharmacy.   While New York City sanitary laws prohibited cannibis as early as 1914, Utah's was the first statewide prohibition.   Many Western states followed suit in ensuing years, fueled in part by sentiment against Mexican immigrants. Nearly 27 states had marijuana prohibitions by 1937, when one of the first national anti-marijuana laws, the Marihuana Tax Act, took effect.   -- The Salt Lake Tribune Source: Salt Lake Tribune (UT)Author: Dan Harrie, The Salt Lake TribunePublished:  Monday, September 9, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Salt Lake TribuneContact: letters sltrib.comWebsite: http://www.sltrib.com/ Related Articles & Web Sites:NRLEhttp://www.nrle.org/Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/In Nevada, a Joint Venture Finds Supporters http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14026.shtmlMarijuana is Bad, Mmm'kay? So Don't Smokehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13944.shtmlMarijuana Initiative Promise High Adventure http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13910.shtmlVegas Measure Gambles on Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13896.shtml 
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Comment #16 posted by Druid on September 11, 2002 at 16:18:52 PT:
The hypocrisy I was talking about
http://216.9.192.67/news.php3?sid=240
Top Story: Mormon Church Newspaper Violates The Ninth Commandment. Gives False Evidence Against Marijuana Users and Anti-Prohibitionists. 
Posted by Richard Cowan on 2000-06-27 20:43:19 
Source: http://www.desnews.com 
 
Posted June 27, 2000
(MarijuanaNews note: On this day in 1844, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church, was brutally murdered by a mob in Illinois. One of the saddest characteristics of human nature is that those who have been the targets of bigotry and persecution often do not learn the importance of tolerance, but instead think that they should be the ones doing the persecuting156 years after the murder of Joseph Smith, the Mormon Church is rich and powerful enough to have its own newspaper, The Deseret News, which now advocates state violence against even sick and dying medical marijuana users. It is especially shameful that a Church owned paper would violate the 9th Commandment. I just feel that it was ironic that the mormons returning from exile were exiled for their belief in something. So they in return brought about persecution for something that others believe in. Why was the use of marijuana against church doctrine? I don't believe that the LDS church endorses medical marijuana at all. If they did then Utah with Idaho to follow would soon recognize it as a legal medication. I have grown up my entire life with the hypocrisy of mormon self-righteousness. I feel I have been persecuted by them for non-belief in what they say is the ONE true way.Maybe California mormons are different then those I have been around in the wards and stakes in Idaho and Utah but I don't think so. Mormons are not open minded and they are not given a choice in how they live their lives. They are told how to live every aspect of their lives through church doctrine. Oh and I did have my named removed from the church registry but I have family members who wish to "save" me so they put my name and the names of my wife and children back in.John Markes I don't have anything against you at all. I applaud your willingness for diversity. You are unique among your peers in your church though. Diversity among mormons is not encouraged and is repressed. If you don't believe me why don't you go ask your closest homosexual( who was a good church member until he was ex-communicated for his feelings and beliefs)friend how he feels about the compassion and love that mormons have for those that don't subscribe to their exact school of thought. Check out www.lds.org and do a search through all their archives for marijuana. The only time it is talked about is when they are saying don't do it or talking about its horrible evil consequences. They equate cannabis to wild sex parties and cocaine. 0 hits for "medical marijuana". I am not saying that there aren't some very lovely people who happen to be mormon for that's not the case at all. Most of the people I care for the deepest in this world belong to the LDS religion. I just don't think they really know what is going on in the world. The philosophy of naiveness = purity of soul comes to mind.
Certainly numerous young people have been damaged or destroyed by the use of marijuana and other deadly drugs. We deplore such" President Spencer W. Kimball (Ensign 4 [Nov. 1974]:6).
Utah is one of America's most regressive states; 92% of its population identify themselves as Mormons. Mormonism is an extremely conservative, Puritanical and aggressive religion. Until a few years ago, official Mormon doctrine stated that "black people" could not be members of the Mormon Church because they were "cursed children of Satan." Mormonism is also virulently anti-marijuana, even though its founding father Brigham Young and his followers grew hemp when they first emigrated to Utah in the 1800's."I'm worried that this whole country might become as bad as Utah," Peron commented. "We've got Ashcroft going after doctors who help Oregonians utilize Oregon's euthanasia law. He sends the DEA into California to bust Imler's club, Mollie Fry, and other people who are legal under 215. Imler found out he was a fool to trust the police. Ashcroft is doing the same thing the feds did when we passed Prop 215 – he's attacking doctors and sick people. I can't believe how bad things have gotten. People say we started a revolution in California when we passed Prop 215. Maybe we should have a nationwide vote on whether we want Nazis running this country. It's gotten that bad."
http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/2306.html
One month after US Drug Czar General McCaffrey told a Congressional committee that he was getting "rolled in the public arena" by Cannabis Culture and other pot-supporters, a bill has been introduced into the US Congress which would ban all pro-pot books and websites. Anything which explains how to grow or use cannabis, or any other prohibited plant or substance, would be completely censored.The bill is called the Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act, but its real target is magazines, books and websites which dissent from the war on drugs mentality.The bill is backed by a coalition of a dozen senators, led by California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, a longtime supporter of internet regulation, and Utah Republican Orrin Hatch, the arch-conservative Mormon Minister who chairs the Senate Judiciary committee.
http://www.cannabisculture.com/library/hparchive/CongressPlansPot-InfoBan.html
Senator Hatch Warns That For The Children Of Utah 
"excessive preoccupation with social causes, race relations, environmental issues" 
Are Symptoms Of Marijuana Use 
http://www.marijuananews.com/senator_hatch_warns_that_for_the.htm
I promise nobody here will hear another peep out of me on this subject again(unless of course there is another article about mormons and cannabis posted). If anyone wishes to discuss their views and my views on the subject feel free to email me. :)
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Comment #15 posted by John Markes on September 10, 2002 at 21:20:10 PT
Druid
Your description sounds like your family is consistent with their own personal beliefs. That's no hypocrisy. Just because your own beliefs differ from theirs and you have NOT had your name removed from membership record is no reason to call everyone else hypocritical in a public forum about medical marijuana. The LDS church has no problem with legitimate usage of marijuana. So please stop trying to push the rest of us away from supporting a just cause.
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Comment #14 posted by druid on September 10, 2002 at 17:28:39 PT:
John Markes 
I apologize for offending anyone but I feel I am justified in my comments. I was raised a mormon from birth and having held the priesthood and attended seminary through junior high and high school plus rarely missing a day of church in my life until I turned 18. My grandparents are mormon and do temple work as well as my parents and most my aunts and uncles. My grandparents-in-law have been on 3 missions and are very active in my life. I have many debates about the church with them. My brother is a returned missionary and all 5 of my siblings have been married in the temple. 1 in Idaho and 4 in the SLC temple. I am sealed to my parents but they feel my family and I are lost because we are not active in the church. We get our church records transferred, behind our backs I must say, to everywhere we have moved. I really hate those unwanted missionaries showing up trying to talk me into doing something that I have long ago decided was a way of life that wasn't for me.Anyway sorry for the long ramble but my point being was I was not making any assumptions but speaking from experience. It's my own opinion anyway. It doesn't have to be yours.
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on September 10, 2002 at 10:58:12 PT
jay_mo 
This link might help answer your questions.http://sos.state.nv.us/nvelection/faq.htm
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Comment #12 posted by jay_mo on September 10, 2002 at 10:51:09 PT:
how can i vote
I am a 20 year old las vegas resident, I am in the military and stationed outside of Nevada. I want to know how I can cast my vote on the upcoming marijuana laws. If you can help me, an E-mail would be greatly appriciated.
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Comment #11 posted by freedom fighter on September 09, 2002 at 19:33:45 PT
Confronting thyself!
John, I agree.. It begins with us. Not them. Every race, every religion, every disability, we need them all.. And the keyword, it seem to me. Clueless. Since we know. We have the duty and obligation to educate others. More importantly, ourselves. The more we know about ourselves, the more the world will know. Until that happens, the world will be such a gentle, kinder place to live in for everyone.On side-note, since I am a deaf person and I would go to my relative's gatherings. I would get very bored at the gatherings because the relatives would be yapping their heads off. It's like watching ping-pong games. I am never really that close to my relatives as much as I love them since they are my blood. Oh, they would try to talk to me. The usual stuff like How are you? I am fine. Are you working? And so forth. But that was about it. At a recent gathering, one of my cousin who seem kool. I didn't know her that well. Lives in Nevada and she took the time to give me her address. So, I took the time to get in touch with her. I had to take the courage to ask her what she thinks of Question 9. She stated she voted for Question 9. It felt darn good when she got back to me with her answer. It was interesting to know that she felt like it might not make any difference thou. So, what I am trying to get across is to get in touch with anybody you may know in Nevada, be it your grandma and so forth. TALK it out aloud! Time is of essence!!And my thanks to the INTERNET. I would never be able to communicate with my cousin like this. She is gonna vote for Question 9!Whatever may happen, I am damn proud of my cousin!ff
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Comment #10 posted by John Markes on September 09, 2002 at 17:17:51 PT
assumptions...
Don't read you rown distorions in... The LDS priesthood manual say "no member should use any harmful or illegal drugs except under the supervision of a physician. They have no problem with medical usage and have always been against recreational use of anything intoxicating or harmful. There is no hypocrisy in that. As a mormon, I find druid's statement less than useful in a common cause. The fact that the LDS church had and has colonies in Mexico has no relevence, nor their beliefs about polygamy. In fact, they could be a owerful ally if not for such closemindedness as druid shows. They also believe in changing bad and unconstitutional laws. So far, I have not seen anyone try to reach them, only push them away. The fact that they are incredibly gullible and earnest in their support of the USA. I sure was clueless until my digestive disorder led me to medical marijuana. We have to reach out to everyone, not make enemies.
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Comment #9 posted by Sam Adams on September 09, 2002 at 15:01:59 PT
I've got an idea
Why don't we send the DEA into Utah to round up all the men and women in polygamous households? Then a "visiting judge" from the Bible Belt can sentence them to 5-year mandatory minimum jail terms, like Todd McMormick.Somebody forward this idea to Ashcroft, quick!
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Comment #8 posted by VitaminT on September 09, 2002 at 14:45:39 PT
she's twistin' 'em up like a pro!
Even got a dollar bill laying there. If she'd get the real thing and burn down one or two she'd see the world in a whole new light!
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Comment #7 posted by schmeff on September 09, 2002 at 13:45:15 PT
FoM
Thanks for the links to the photo. This must be one of those "grandparents" that Joyce was appealling to in her LTE posted on another thread. Peggy looks pretty hip! (And it would seem that Peggy is maybe one of those people who can get 100 joints from an ounce.) LOL
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Comment #6 posted by schmeff on September 09, 2002 at 13:38:46 PT
Utahhhhhh
Utah leads the nation in the per capita use of prescription anti-depressant medications (Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, etc.)Could this have anything to do with the fact that Utah was the first state to ciminalize cannabis?
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on September 09, 2002 at 11:06:41 PT
Check Out The Link
I'm sorry because I don't think any of this is funny but the picture that was in the Salt Lake Tribune is funny and I can't help it. http://www.sltrib.com/09092002/images/mari.jpghttp://www.sltrib.com/09092002/utah/769764.htm
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Comment #4 posted by druid on September 09, 2002 at 11:00:51 PT:
midly surprised
Taking into consideration the source of this article it wasn't too bad. It seemed pretty neutral to me if not a little on the sensible side. I started the article with a bad attitude thinking it was going to be full of the typical prohibitionist crapola but instead it was fairly informative on both sides of the issue. The LDS Church, said to be worried about marijuana use among members returning from Mexican exile for their polygamous beliefs, decreed in late summer of 1915 that it was against church doctrine.HAHAHAHA ROTFLMAO this statement sums up just how hypocritical most mormons are.
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Comment #3 posted by firedog on September 09, 2002 at 10:14:17 PT
Real conservatives
Conservative but independent-minded voters do exist... and they are pretty reasonable. But their voices are drowned out by the fanatics who have co-opted the word. When I hear the word "conservative" now, I associate it more with the fanatics than the reasonable kind.Real conservatives promote "states rights" as a matter of principle and will stand behind them, even when the rights in question are ones they may not personally like. But the fanatics are something else entirely. They are the American Taliban.They promote "states rights" when it comes to things they like (slavery, segregation, racism) but when it comes to things they don't like (medical marijuana, euthanasia for the terminally ill) they release the hounds, as we have so recently seen in California. They hide behind the phrase "states rights" as an excuse to promote their repressive agenda - there's no principle involved. Just like they hide behind the flag or the Pledge while they burn the constitution. I guess it seems patriotic to some people.
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Comment #2 posted by John Tyler on September 09, 2002 at 09:21:20 PT
Dick Gammick 
Does Washoe County District Attorney Dick Gammick still favors jailing folks for cannabis use? It's time this guy got turned out of office. 
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Comment #1 posted by VitaminT on September 09, 2002 at 08:44:00 PT
LOL! I love it!
. . . Nevada's conservative but independent-minded voters.As though conservatives everywhere else are just happy as can be sitting in the back yard CHAINED TO A POST!What the hell is a conservative - if not INDEPENDENT-MINDED? Don't they promote the right of the states to govern their own affairs? Or have they become closet liberals anxious to heal at the right hand of Big Brother.
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